Wednesday, November 30, 2016

At
Witty International School we believe in fostering a passion for lifelong
learning by acquiring skills and content required for successful and critical
thinkers. In keeping up with this philosophy WIS recently organized a seminar
for the students on “Astrobiology” and ‘NASA’s New Horizons Mission to Pluto
and Beyond’ conducted by an esteemed Planetary Scientist from NASA, Dr. Henry
Throop.

Throop
is a Senior Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona,
USA. He received a PhD in Planetary Science from the University of Colorado,
USA, in 2000. His work focuses on the outer solar system, and he has published
over 40 articles in scientific journals, on topics ranging from to rings of
Saturn and Jupiter, to planet and star formation, to astrobiology and the
origins of life, to searching for (and co-discovering) Pluto's smallest moon,
Styx, in 2012. He is a frequent consultant to the US's NASA and the National
Science Foundation. While working at
NASA, he was responsible for the oversight and management of two of the NASA's
major scientific research programs. Throop has been a member of the science
team for NASA’s New Horizons mission since 2003, and was involved in its
historic flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015.

Throop
told the Wittians that after a nine-year journey though space, astronomers
visited Pluto for the first time in July 2015, using a robotic NASA spacecraft
called New Horizons. Despite being a cold and small icy body, New Horizons
found Pluto’s surface to be young, dynamic, and varied. Planetary Scientist Dr.
Henry Throop told the story of this NASA spacecraft mission, from its
development and construction, through launch in 2006, to its successful
encounter with Pluto, and its plans for onward encounters with bodies in the
distant Kuiper Belt.

Dr.
Henry Throop started by speaking to the students about Pluto’s discovery in
1930 by Clyde Tombaugh studying photographs of the night sky. Constellations
stay in the same place but planets move and using this he was also able to see
a spot in the images that changed over time and so Pluto was revealed. The New
Horizons initiative along with the collaboration of NASA, U.S.A sent a space
craft to find more about the secrets of Pluto and it took 9 years to finally
get the true images of Pluto. Dr. Throop was involved with the calibration of
instruments on board New Horizons, including the infrared spectrometer, which
measures energy that is given off in the infrared wavelength. Dr. Throop
offered inspirational advice to Wittians, “The spark of creativity and
curiosity must always be ignited in the students through various initiatives
and discussions on Science and Technology.”

Dr.
Henry Throop, also delivered an engaging talk about NASA's contribution to
search for life in space over the past 50 years to the younger students of
Grade 6. He suggested that instead of Mars, the future missions should target
Jupiter's moon Europa as the moon is likely to have a sub-surface ocean. In his
presentation on Astrobiology, Throop explored the history of ideas about the
plurality of worlds and extraterrestrial life. From ancient Greek philosophy to
Twentieth Century science fiction, he discussed the ways in which the
possibility of life beyond the Earth has both inspired and terrified, becoming
entangled with religious persecution, philosophical debate, development of scientific
theories, politics and popular culture. He
dealt with some very essential questions asked by the curious Wittians about the
existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of contact with such
civilizations. This thought still manages to captivate human minds. Are we
alone in the universe or were other civilizations destroyed as a result of
ecological catastrophes or conflict? How does scientific knowledge direct our
future scientific and technological pursuits on Earth and in space? These
questions lead to the opening of an interesting topic – Astrobiology. Throop spoke
about the ongoing search for micro-life in the universe and the future tests
planned to conduct the isotopic analysis of the organic material retrieved from
over 40 km above the earth's surface.

Throop
stated, “This is my second visit to Witty International School and I am
delighted to interact with the students again. The students at WIS are
excellent, and they are supported by very good teachers, staff, and parents.
The students are smart, curious, and engaging and I think we could have gone on
for several hours with the good questions that everyone had.”

Mr.
Bijo Kurian, the Principal of Witty International School, Pawan Baug said, “Our
goal is to educate global-minded students who are curious, enthusiastic and
principled leaders. We plan to harvest the rich resources of the most
distinguished people in the varied fields to nourish a meaningful educational
adventure for each student through this initiative.”